Trek made easy for tourists

Matheran mapped with exact GPS locations

GPS-locations help first time visitors to reach various places in Matheran

It is a unique work by three nature lovers and they toiled hard for over a couple of years and made several visits to hill station of Matheran in Maharashtra with their GPS equipment to achieve their goal. Their hard labour has resulted in mapping of nature, flora and fauna, hills, heritage, its mini train, life and people of Matheran with exact GPS locations.

Located 108 km from downtown Mumbai and 120 km away from Pune --and at a height of 2,570 feet – in the Karjat tehsil of Raigad district, Matheran is the smallest hill station of India. Matheran, which means “forest on the forehead”, is declared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest an eco-sensitive region and is Asia’s only automobile-free hill station. One can do a lot of things here – walk, trek, do some mountaineering and rock climbing, valley crossing, night trails, bird watching and so on.

Three youths–Yogesh Chavan, Shailendra Patil and Sunil Patil – who are nature lovers have come out with a book “Matheran: A Practical Guide”.  The untiring efforts of the enterprising trio has resulted in the first-ever GPS mapped work of a hill station in the country.

“The book is unique, it has Matheran’s history, geography, wildlife, heritage, market places, its people and so on,” Chavan said. It gives a complete view of Matheran. “We have to appreciate that Matheran is a unique place which is frequented by the rich as well as the common man,” he said.

“Our idea was to piece together information and present it in a from that would help tourists to undertake the trip to Matheran by distributing their time well between sightseeing, travel, shopping, eating and resting,” he said. The trio virtually scouted the entire area and identified points that would interest all--be it a common tourist, adventurer, wildlife lover, nature lover. As they proceeded with their work, they took hundreds of pictures and have incorporated some 200 of them in their book.

Chavan, who has been visiting Matheran since 1991, said that every tourist point has been detailed. “We have done a lot of research. We have not only given the exact height of the place, but also the GPS reference points,” said Chavan, who is a Yoga expert and teacher and an acupressure therapist.

For example, the Honeymoon Point--one of the famous places is located at 2,350 feet and GPS reference - N18 59.307 and E73 15.699 or the Monkey Point located at 2,421 feet and at GPS reference – N19 00.253 and E 73 16.359. There are around 38 designated look-out points in Matheran, including the Panorama Point that provides a
360-degree view of the surrounding area and also the Neral town. From this point, the view of sunset and sunrise is dramatic.

“The GPS references come in handy to the people visiting Matheran for the first time,” Chavan said. The Louisa Point offers crystal a clear view of the Prabal Fort. The other points are the One Tree Hill Point, Heart Point, Monkey Point, Porcupine Point, Rambagh Point and more.

They have devoted separate chapters for discovery of Matheran by Hugh Poyntz Malet, the British era Collector of Thane district (1850) and building of the mini train that connects Neral to Matheran by Sir Adamji Peerbhoy, a well-known millionaire of Bombay, in 1907. The book also highlights the visit of Mount Stuart Elphinstone, who in 1850s was the Governor of Bombay.

The places of worship that have been included in the guide are Pisarnath Mandir, Jain Mandir, Ram Mandir, Buddha Vihar, Ganpati Mandir, Radhakrishna Mandir, the mosque in the main market, St Paul’s Church. Chavan has given details of the tribals of Matheran-- Gavlis, Thakars and Katkaris-- and also prominent personalities -- Veer Bhai Kotwal, Raghunath Kadam and Krishnaji Sabaji Sawant.

When it comes to flora and fauna, the book details them minutely. It provides a checklist of birds, butterflies, reptiles, insects, moths, mammals, amphi­bians and fishes. “It is not a tourist guide, but much more than a tourist guide with the common man being the focal point,” added Chavan.

It has also reference of leopard sightings. “A person visiting Matheran is just required to follow the book,” he said. Matheran was discovered in May 1850 by Hugh Poyntz Malet. Lord Elphinstone laid the foundation of the development as a future hill station. The Britishers developed Matheran as a popular resort to beat the summer heat in the region.

Matheran is located on the Western Ghats. It’s very rich on account of biodiversity as it supports evergreen forest. It is home to endangered endemic mammal Ratufa indica (giant squirrel), they are an endangered species classified in the “Near threatened” category of IUCN Red list. The evergreen forest is dwelling to leopard, bonnet Macaque, barking deer, grey mongoose, common palm civet, rhesus macaque black, common langur, Three-striped palm squirrel and Indian porcupine.